We’re having a murrini challenge on the beading forum, this means that I have finally gotten my a into g and made my first ever murrini!!  So what is murrini, you’re probably asking??  Murrini is glass that has been layered into a pattern, then pulled into a cane.  Once cooled, it is sliced up, then added to your bead as decoration.  There is even a hard candy that is made similar.

Here is my first bead with murrini, I decided to go for a mullusc/shell type murrini for my first try.  Unfortunately, I cracked the top of the bead when I was removing it from the mandrel, so it’s been slumped down to form a cabochon.  I’ve included a photo of the cab as well.

 

 

 

And here it is on some other beads as well.  These beads are made with one of the frit blends I made up when I ran out of gas.  If you look at my previous post about the blends, it is the picture with #17 on it.

 

And here is the same blend swirled in some cabochons

 

I’ve also made some beads and cabochons with the #48 blend I made up.

 

 

 

 

There’s only a couple of days left on the 50% Off Jewellery Sale!  So be sure to pop over and grab some gifts for yourself or your loved ones before time runs out.

All items come gift wrapped, so it’s a perfect opportunity to get some Christmas shopping out of the way!

Go Shopping Now!

I’ve gradually been adjusting my gift wrapping/packaging for my jewellery over time.  I think I’ve finally found something I really love. 

The package below has earrings inside, which are on a card within a ziplock bag.  For bracelets, necklaces, etc I’ll be popping them into a pretty organza bag in a white box with stuffing, then wrapping the box as below, with extra ribbon. 

This way the whole range is consistant in style.  So what do you think? 

Knowing me, I’ll probably end up changing it again sometime down the track LOL  I just cant seem to help myself!  Actually, once I’ve used up all my lavender supplies, I’ll probably be swapping to a burgundy colour to go more with my website.

Since I had run out of gas, I decided to get some cabs made up.  So those of you that asked me about them, there are now 50 new listings!!  Took me three goes trying to get some decent photos LOL No wonder my eyes feel so tired now!

Some of the cabochons have 22Kt gold decals fused to them.  This is done in the kiln, so they are permanent additions.

Here are a few of my favourites from this lot.  I love so many of them!

 

To check them all out visit HERE. 

There is a mix of large, tiny and everything in between.

As some of you know, I make my lampwork beads in the garage.  Our garage is over 50 years old, the concrete floor is badly cracked (was made without any reo in there to reinforce it), the walls are the asbestos fibro and dont have any lining.

The grey, grungy walls were just depressing to work within, so I decided it was time to do something about it.  We had some left over white ceiling paint, so I grabbed it, a roller and brush and got to work.  I didn’t bother priming the walls before painting, yes I’m lazy LOL  I also have a heap of acrylic craft paints left over from a previous hobby, so I used them to paint on some pretty floral designs.  I got the basic design from a Photoshop brush, and just worked that into the theme.

Amazingly, after several rains, the walls are still crisp white, no stains or water marks leached through the paint job!! 

As you can see from the photo, I still have a few sections to paint, as well as the whole back wall.  I ran out of paint so will have to pick up some more. I’ll have to make sure I get the same brand, as it had really good coverage.  I’ve decided to leave the joists (is that what they’re called?), bare, as they have been roughly cut and would just end up being too difficult to paint properly. 

I have already sealed the floor with a water based clear sealer, but I’m seriously contemplating painting it as well.  I’ll have to price how much concrete paint is.  I got a colour chart the other day, and there are some bright colours available nowadays!  Just have to choose one!

 

I went to do some torching today, only to find myself running out of gas!  I was working on making a murrini cane and didn’t even get to finish that!  Hooked up my spare tank, only to find it empty as well.  I was so sure it was full!! 

Oh well, to pass some time, I decided to make up some new frit blends to try.  I ended up with six mixes, can’t wait to try them out.  If there’s any other lampworkers out there that would like to have a play with them, let me know and I’ll post some out, just let me know which you’d like.

Here’s the piccies of them…

         

Oh, they’re made using Kugler glass.  So because of their high lead content you can use them with COE104.

Congratulations to L. Bernhardt of WA, Australia!

Linda has won the Monthly Draw for October on my lampwork bead website.  Linda, you will be soon be receiving a $10.00 Gift Voucher in the mail.

To find out how you can enter the draw, just visit HERE.